Chapter 136

On the online forum ‘Gossip sub’, a lot of people talked about X-Star and its grand finale that was getting broadcasted tonight.

But most of these comments came off in a pessimistic way.

No one was very excited about X-Star. It was not just X-Star but the craze of reality shows has slowly stagnated and this year, the contestants weren’t that well liked by the audience.

[Pan_Demic: I don’t even remember the last time I was excited about a reality show finale. A lot of them are fixed and the contestants somehow have the same personality. Moreover, most of them fade away after the competition and new ones come up.]

[Jock Shock: Yeah, I used to get the feeling that this guy or that girl could be the next big singer but now, it feels like they are factory made singers that are going to get dumped after the competition.]

[Semi Dead: Last year X-Star was good though. It was amazing when Rachel Rose won as I was supporting her from the beginning.]

[President Small Hands: Yeah, last year’s contestants were really great but this year one felt like they were trying too hard and the rounds were pretty boring too. But I think I will watch a bit of the finale just if it is really going to be bad.]

[I Shoot You Die: I heard this year they invited a lot of people, even Aiden Silvereye who was a contestant last year. I want to watch it just to see the interaction between Aiden and the judges.]

[Fire In The Hole: Yeah that would be very interesting. Aiden got eliminated pretty soon but he made it so big X-Star needed to invite him to the show. Would be fun to watch that.]

[Cumet: Wait, I didn’t know that. I might watch it just for him then.]

[Itchy and scratchy: I don’t think even calling celebs and getting old contestants back would do a thing. A lot of people left watching this season halfway through.

[Text me back: Who knows? Aiden’s song is currently on my loop. It’s very good and makes me calm when I’m anxious. It’s even getting recommended by MeTube in their official playlist.]

[Robot cat: Let’s see if Aiden’s popularity actually helps the show. I’m pretty sure it won’t have any effect nor will the other celebs.]

[Sick of living: Guys! The show is starting.]

***

After the commercial break on Panther TV, the logo of X-Star appeared at once on television screens.

With the accompanying background music, the introduction clip ran. The three judges each made an appearance in it and a voiceover told the story of how the show had gone from the first episode, the contestants that had managed to enamored people, the contestants who were eliminated and finally, those who made it to the finale.

The finale of X-Star has started!

At the same time, many people were waiting in front of their televisions.

“Dad, I don’t really want to see this. It’s pretty boring to watch.”

A 10 year old boy said, looking at his father who had just changed channels to see the finale.

“I thought you were a fan of the show.” The father asked, tilting his head.

“Not anymore. I got bored of the same songs getting sung and the same reactions. It’s better to watch a movie. Why can’t we turn on Zetflix?”

“Let’s do that after a while. It’s the finale. I want to see how it will go. I’m pretty sure they won’t make it boring.”

The kid wasn’t able to say anything to that and just sighed, turning his eyes to the TV as there was no other option.

He was too tired of his video games too.

On the TV, the host started the finale by doing a small introduction of the celebs who are watching the show as a live audience today and then, one by one, the finalists were each called on the stage, presided by their introduction video.

In the introduction video, the finalists just talked about their journey and how desperate they are for winning the competition.

Then, they start performing with backup dancers amplifying the level of the performance with their movies. Every finalist sang two songs as the kid and his father saw the audience going wild over the performances.

Even the celebs and judges were appreciating them.

But both of them didn’t think that it was really something amazing.

“Last year’s performances were better. This doesn’t give me the same level of excitement.” The father muttered, sipping from the can of beer. “I should have just watched a movie.”

“Which one though?” The kid asked.

“Well, we could watch a comedy. That’s the best. Zetflix has some good sitcoms.” The father said, knowing fully well that his wife would scold him if he went for a gore filled action movie which he typically liked.

“Okay. Let’s watch [Searching for the One].”

As the kid said that, his years suddenly heard an announcement that the host of X-Star, Marlo was doing.

Wearing a golden suit that surprisingly didn’t look bad on him, he said, “Now that the performances are done, I would like to call someone special on the stage. Someone who was there at the contestants place last year but in just a short time, he’s a big singer that’s doing very well for himself. Please welcome Aiden Silvereye on the stage!”

When both of them heard the name of Aiden, they both were a bit surprised. They were longtime viewers of the show and had watched the last season too.

The kid was even supporting Aiden throughout the competition before he got eliminated.

‘I heard he had a fallout with the production team of the show, but I guess those were just rumors.’

The father thought in his mind. The thought of watching the sitcom stalled in his mind as he looked at his son.

“Should we watch his performance? You like him, right?”

“Yeah, let’s wait till his performance ends.”

The kid nodded his head and both of them started watching X-Star seriously for the first time since the start of the competition.

On the TV, the lights went off and a bright spotlight fell on Aiden who was standing in the middle of the stage with a guitar in his hand. He was looking at the judges, like he was reminiscing about his first audition.

Then, slowly music started to play around in the background. Soft piano music mixed with guitar instantly attracted the kid and his father.

Both of them have not heard ‘Lost in the Sky’, so they felt the same as they would feel when Aiden would bring out new songs in every round.

As Aiden started singing the song, the father and son felt like they were hit by a shocking feeling.

“Please tell me if this is an illusion.”

“Why am I still finding the reason?”

“Oh, am I just searching for something that isn’t there?”

“Reaching my hand out to nowhere.”

This was it!

As the father and son got lost in the song, they realised that this was the feeling that was missing from X-Star this season. Even though the songs and singers were great, no one was able to immerse them in their songs.

The feelings didn’t reach them and emotions were thoroughly lacking.

Aiden who has the skill ‘Empathy’ was master in portraying emotions, making him easily look like a singer who has gone through so many things and has tons of experience. This skill worked best with a song like ‘Lost in the Sky’.

He was able to portray the emotions of a confused, teenage boy perfectly and at the same time, his notes were hitting all the right places, making it evident that he had practiced a lot.

As they were getting lost in the song, a lot of people have started talking about Aiden online.

***

“Is anyone watching the X-Star finale? If you are not, go and watch it asap!”

“What’s going on in it? I thought it was pretty boring.”

“Most of it is but a guy is singing a great song currently. What a fucking soothing voice he has and the song is great.”

“Hey, that’s Aiden Silvereye.”

“I have been hearing about him and his songs a lot these days. Turns out it’s really good.”

“Why didn’t he win last season? Ain’t he the best out of all of them?”

“He got eliminated pretty early on.”

“That’s a pity but if he had won, who knows if he would turn out so good. I feel nice that his career trajectory is on the rise after facing failures.”

“Yeah, it gives me a lot of confidence that I can pass again after failing my exams.”

“Oh, fuck. I missed the performance. Changed channels five minutes before his performance. Does anyone have any clips?”

“Pretty sure, X-Star will release it on their MeTube channel. Aiden is already trending on Sparrow as a lot of people are suddenly talking about him.”

“I heard people talking about him in a saloon I was in. X-Star was playing on the TV and everyone was staring at it, including the barber when Aiden started his performance.”

“Damn! Ain’t this song becoming too big too soon?”

“It’s just a great song with deep meaning and sung beautifully. I’m happy such songs are getting recognition.”

“Like this, Aiden is surely going to be on the top of Melody charts.”

***

After the X-Star finale ended, a lot of articles came up about the show. But rather than talking about the winners, many of them were just about Aiden and his performance.

<Aiden Silvereye wins hearts on the eve of X-Star finale.>

<The ex contestants turns up on the stage where he was eliminated to truly own it.>

<‘Lost in the Sky’ was the soul of X-Star grand finale last night.>

…

//DreamNote//

Please support this novel with your power stones and golden tickets ??

Thank you Omar for your generous gift. And to everyone for your constant support.